UN warns of 'human rights catastrophe' as siege tightens on Sudan's al-Obeid
By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) — The United Nations human rights chief issued a stark warning on Friday that another human rights catastrophe is rapidly unfolding around the besieged city of al-Obeid in Sudan, urging global powers to act before the pattern of atrocities seen elsewhere in the conflict repeats itself.
Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, has become the latest flashpoint in a brutal war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted more than three years ago. The conflict has already triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, displacing millions and plunging entire regions into famine.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told delegates at the Human Rights Council in Geneva that civilians in and around al-Obeid have endured siege-like conditions for 18 months, with severe shortages of clean water and near-constant drone strikes. His office has documented patterns of summary executions, abductions, torture, and sexual violence along displacement routes across the Kordofan region.
“The signs from al-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan, this time in the capital of the strategic state of North Kordofan,” Turk said, urging the international community not to allow a repeat of the widespread atrocities that took place in al-Fashir in North Darfur last year.
The emergency session was called by Britain, whose envoy had earlier warned of large-scale atrocities as the RSF massed forces around al-Obeid — one of Sudan's largest cities and a fragile refuge for people displaced from other conflict zones. Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the world could not allow al-Obeid to become “the next senseless tragedy,” adding: “The international community must rise to the moment.”
Risk of new wave of displacement
The U.N. International Organization for Migration warned on Friday that a full-scale attack on al-Obeid could uproot hundreds of thousands more civilians at a time when humanitarian operations are already stretched to their limits. Since February, the number of newly displaced across the wider Kordofan region has surged by nearly two-thirds, topping 219,000 people, according to IOM figures. Al-Obeid itself hosts around half a million residents, including more than 83,000 internally displaced people.
The RSF has said its operations around al-Obeid are military in nature, and previously stated that it does not intentionally target civilians and that those responsible for abuses will be held accountable. The force did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Civilians killed by drones
As in other fronts of the war, drone strikes have become a dominant tactic, often resulting in civilian casualties. Between June 6 and 28, at least 45 civilians were killed and 41 injured in 15 drone strikes in al-Obeid and surrounding areas, according to the U.N. human rights office.
Human rights groups have documented alleged war crimes by both sides in the conflict. The RSF, in particular, has faced repeated accusations of atrocities and ethnic violence, notably in its stronghold of Darfur in western Sudan. In al-Fashir, at least 6,000 people were killed in just three days when the RSF captured the besieged and famine-stricken city in late October, according to the U.N. human rights office. That office found the RSF and allied militia committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including mass killings, summary executions, sexual violence, and torture.
Proposed resolutions at the U.N. Human Rights Council strongly condemn the escalating violence by the RSF in and around al-Obeid and express deep concern about the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities. Meanwhile, Sudan's army-aligned foreign minister, Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, urged the international community to exert concrete pressure to stop the flow of advanced military equipment and weapons to the RSF.
The crisis in al-Obeid underscores the broader failure of the international community to stem the violence in Sudan, where existing humanitarian funding gaps and diplomatic paralysis have allowed the conflict to spiral. Without urgent intervention, analysts warn, al-Obeid could become the next mass atrocity site in a war already marked by devastation.
(Editing by Aidan Lewis)